Everything You Need to Know about Gas Safety in Your Commercial Catering Enterprise

The commercial catering industry has always been a lucrative industry, especially for those who know what they are doing and how to do it right. But if you are just starting out with your commercial catering business, you should be aware of certain rules and regulations governing gas safety. Making sure your commercial catering enterprise is gas safe is the best way to ensure your protection from gas explosions, carbon monoxide poisoining, and more.

Your responsibilities

You have a number of responsibilities in regards to gas safety. First of all, you need to ensure that your gas appliances and equipment are installed, serviced, and maintained by qualified Gas Safe registered engineers. More often than not, you may be asked to present proof that you have adhered to this rule. This paperwork can take the form of gas safety certificates and other paperwork which shows that your gas appliances and installations are checked or serviced once a year, at the very least, by Gas Safe engineers.

A registered Gas Safe company will have the proper registration number, and the engineers working under a Gas Safe registered company will have an identification card specifying the categories of gas work for which they are qualified.

If your catering business is inspected by the EHO (Environmental Health Officer), you need to be able to show that you have regular maintenance of your gas appliances and equipment. If you fail to present them with evidence of regular maintenance, the officer may present you with a notice specifying what actions you need to take to comply.

What to expect from the gas engineer

The gas engineer, as mentioned, should have the proper qualifications to work on your appliances and equipment. You can determine this simply by having a look at their card. If you have a fish and chip shop, for instance, the gas engineer’s card should specify ‘Commercial catering: fish and chip range, LPG’ or similar. If you have a standard commercial catering business, then the gas engineer’s card should specify ‘Commercial catering: range cookers (or other type of appliance), LPG or NG.’

Once the gas engineer has serviced your appliance or equipment, they should give you a record of safety. You can also ask for written evidence of the service or repair work they have done so you can have documented confirmation that your gas appliances and equipment are safe.Confirming the gas engineer’s qualifications

You can further confirm the qualifications of good commercial catering engineers by checking their name at GasSafeRegister.co.uk. Alternatively, you can telephone Gas Safe Register itself. Gas Safe Register should be able to check and confirm the gas engineer’s qualifications and whether they are registered to do work on the type of gas (either LPG or NG) your enterprise has or the type of gas appliances you have.